Binance Helps Disrupt Fiewin Scam Gaming App
According to cryptocurrency exchange Binance, it has helped Indian authorities retrieve US$47.6 million that victims of a fraudulent gaming platform had lost.
The exchange claimed in a statement posted on its website that its Financial Intelligence Unit had given India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) vital information that helped them track down the money laundered by the owners of the online gambling platform Fiewin.
Users may win money playing mini-games on the Fiewin platform, which was promoted on Facebook, YouTube, and other digital platforms. According to ED, it was also a "pig-butchering" fraud website.
Pig-butchering is a term used to describe a long-term scam in which the victim's trust is gained and they are progressively tricked into contributing more and more money to the scam.
Big Criminal Network
Fiewin participants were allowed to place modest wagers on straightforward games of chance. At first, they were even allowed to take out a portion of their winnings. However, players' accounts were stopped and their money vanished once deposits hit a specific amount. To get as much money as possible from the victim, the system was meticulously weighted.
Investigators from the ED found that Fiewin was a member of a significant global criminal organization that engaged in extensive money laundering that was hidden behind a convoluted web of transactions.
Chinese nationals dominated it to a significant extent, with help from Indian conspirators. According to the CIA, four Indian citizens connected to the investigation have been taken into custody.
These individuals changed player monies into cryptocurrency and sent them to Chinese citizens' Binance wallets after channeling them into Indian bank accounts under their control. Three men—Huang Liangliang, Zhang Longlong, and Zheng Wenjun—were named by the ED as the primary recipients of these transactions.
Layered and Laundered
“The gains generated through the Fiewin online gaming app were then layered and laundered through various accounts to acquire movable and immovable properties,” the ED said in a statement.
"Further, a substantial portion of the proceeds of crime generated in India was siphoned off by Chinese nationals using the cryptocurrency route,” the agency added. “The funds received by the Chinese nationals were layered using multiple private and exchange-based wallets.”
According to Binance, the investigation is still underway, and they will keep helping the ED find the criminal organization responsible for Fiewin's actions.
“This case showcases the critical importance of collaboration between public institutions like the ED and private entities like Binance in addressing the new types of digital threats,” the crypto exchange added.
